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Phillipa Mukome Chinhoi Youth Interactive Correspondent
According to research, Africa suffers from a high burden of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR TB) which is killing 500,000 people annually.
The standard treatment consists of a six-month toxic regimen using a combination of the four first-line drugs that, although very efficient, can promote the emergence of resistance due to poor patient adherence to therapy.
This was revealed by a 20-year-old female scientist, Rutendo Kahari who said wants to fight viruses that infect various bacteria with her tests.
The Biotechnology student in the United States said in an interview with The Herald Youth Interactive that through her tests in the laboratory at school, she wants to learn novel ways to shorten time and develop an alternative treatment for MDR TB.
“With the encouragement of my mentors (Rd. Jennifer Jones, Ph. D., and Rd. Janet Nale, Ph. I began to read research papers related to pages, including their therapeutic use and anatomy,” she said.
Rutendo is interested in emerging science as a potential tool for addressing infectious and tropical diseases prevalent in Africa.
She also advocates for bridging the STEM education divide in Africa by empowering the youth in her Zimbabwean community with coding skills, and by serving as a science communicator for global STEM organizations.
In 2021, Kahari presented her research on “Fighting Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis with Phage Therapy” at MIT’s Global Community Bio Summit 5.0 and also participated in Future Earth Academy, a global virtual biotechnology beta program involving Rutendo and 12 other hand-picked youths under the guidance of Dr. Jennifer Jones, Ph.D .
“This program introduced me to biotechnology tools that have the potential to revolutionise Africa’s healthcare system and practicing scientists,”
“There is a wide gap in science education in Africa, and my role as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) advocate is to popularise science in my community.
In recent years, the scope and depth of my commitment have only grown. I’ve volunteered, learned, and taught in global STEM organizations like Youth STEM 2030, Junior Medical Academy, Learn Biomimicry, Girls in STEM Trust, Girls in Tech Zimbabwe, and MIT’s Global Community Bio Summit,” she said.
“Africa Code Week has allowed me to devote time to community service by teaching coding to youths in Zimbabwe. I have spent time tinkering with genetic engineering home kits from Amino Labs and participating in highly collaborative classes organised by the international community lab GenSpace.”
Her other achievements are that she attended the Premedical Internship in Mombasa, Kenya with Elective Africa in the summer of 2022, she participated in a seven-week pre-medical internship at a field hospital in Mombasa, Kenya as the youngest and only African being a Zimbabwean among mostly American college interns.
She has rotated through five different departments which were Internal Medicine, Comprehensive Care, Cardiology, New-borns, and Paediatrics.
She said that the patient consultations were an eye-opening journey through Africa’s challenges with drug shortages, high costs, and scarcity of healthcare professionals.
“This was my first real-world clinical experience, which also allowed me to learn more about gaps in Africa’s healthcare and the work being done through global health lectures organised and led by the healthcare professionals at the hospital,” said Rutendo.
The young scientist was part of the ‘Take Action Lab program’ with Global Citizen Year during spring (March-June 2023), for young global change-makers in Cape Town, South Africa.
She received a full-ride scholarship valued at $25 000 to participate in this program.
This immersive experience helped her learn about the impact of social justice on education and healthcare in South Africa.
“I used my background in science communication as a teaching assistant for high school-level Biology and Chemistry at a local private high school with students from over five African countries.”
My key responsibilities included facilitating class discussions, leading classes, assisting the teacher in developing lesson plans, and offering academic support to the students,” said Rutendo.
The scientist grew up in Bulawayo, and when she was 17 years old, her father passed away.
Read more on www.herald.co.zw
“My father’s death inspired me to embark on a mission to bring the power of emerging biotech to address the burden of diseases in her region and to promote health equity across Africa.”
“It was a painful experience to watch my father bedridden because of an enlarged heart due to congestive heart failure, I did not understand what was going on during that time but it then became the birth of my interest in biomedicine,” she said.
“As I entered high school, the medical terms and pharmacology began to make sense. I want to help create a healthier Africa so that others might not suffer as my father did.”
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